They're sick of waiting. And now some are crossing over to the other side.

According to a report in EDGE Magazine, retailers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe are claiming a dramatic increase in the number of customers trading-in PS3 units—either for cash, or, in many instances, toward the purchase of an Xbox 360.

One source in Belgium told the magazine that "just ten days into the month and already we have an increase of 200 per cent in PS3s coming into the store compared to all of March. Normally we sell them really fast, but not this time. We've only sold 30 to 40 per cent of our inventory right now."

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Another retailer speaking to the magazine classified those gamers most put-off by the PSN outage—and thus most willing to defect to the competition—as those involved in the "the hardcore online shooter crowd." Unsurprisingly, there are corresponding reports of mass trade-ins of PS3 copies of titles like Call Of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA Soccer 11, as well as cancellations of pre-orders for Brink—all which rely upon their online component as elements of crucial interest.

These customers might represent only a very extreme (and easily perturbed) portion of Sony's consumer base. But that oughtn't be grounds for assurance—these customers could also be the hardest for the company to win back.